Teslagrad is one of those games where you just know it’s going to be a good 2D puzzle adventure, with no idea what you in for. This is one of those games where your controller is wet because you are crying and sweating from trying but you can’t put your controller down because its soo addictive .When you load in you are immediately pushed into the game as a poor boy with nothing but clothes and the ability to run away from problems and on the quest to collect scrollsa, no intro or anything, leaving you to guess and find out! With the surroundings you get a feel for the emotion that is portrayed. The sounds and ambience are incredible, it suits the game perfectly. After playing for a while you find out that you are placed in a city called Elektropia that is run by an evil king who is out to destroy the people willing to build it called the tech wizards.
The rainy sounds and the people running in the background makes you excited about what’s going on. It doesn’t come off immediately as a happily themed game that makes you laugh, the colours of the animation help portray this, they are very well done to show emotion.. No, this game makes you struggle emotionally and physically, but at the end when you have worked out the pieces to the puzzle there is an immense sense of accomplishment. One of the downsides that make this game mildly infuriating is the lack of help/tutorials. You need to focus on the graphics on the wall to give you an understanding of how to do things however if you are trying to discover where to go in the dark it can be a little too complicated. The gameplay unfolds as you move on, the puzzle pieces come together painting a picture.
The bosses are all unique however you can tell the developers have definitely taken pages out of other games but have improved them and given them a certain spice to make it really tasty and entertaining. As the story progresses so do your skills, and learning all the sneaky tactics to defeat the old bosses helps with the new ones. The amount of times taken to defeat the bosses gradually decreases, from 1000 to about 2.
This game runs incredibly smoothly and the transitions between screens are smooth and entertaining leaving you wondering about what you are coming across. With saying that a small downside is that it doesn’t have any obvious saving images or save points to you don’t know where you are going to come back to when you leave and come back.
The game play is awesome, the abilities you pick up that allow you to do certain things like teleport and punch things adds to the game style. The mechanics and puzzles are really cleverly done, most puzzles run on a positive and negatively charged magnets, you need to match the opposites top lift objects and open doors. The iron fist that you pick up allows you to do this, however its not as easy as it sounds.
Overall this game is highly addictive, I myself am not such a 2D puzzle fan but this was epic, I struggled to quit, I even told my friends to let me finish a few more levels before joining them on the normal AAA titles. The ambience and gameplay are put together perfectly, the lack of trials/help makes it more challenging and changes the way you think. The sense of accomplishment after defeating a boss and discovering where to go makes it all totally worth it! It’s definitely worth a play! I am hooked. I look forward to seeing what rain games has to offer!